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Meet The Castaways: Day 1

Hello Survivor fans! Over the next four days, I’ll be introducing you to the sixteen castaways who will be stranding themselves in the jungles of the Western Ghats on Survivor: India! We’ll be meeting four castaways each day. You can view all the castaways after they’ve been revealed here.

Serious-minded Brett was born and raised in Texas. He’s lived throughout the state, recently having worked in El Paso as a part of the DEA. He grew up in a much more rural environment, however, where he and his four brothers spent a childhood roughing each other up and exploring the woodlands in the surrounding area. An experienced outdoorsman, Brett’s hobbies include camping, hunting, and fishing. He is also very involved with activity in his church. Between his background in law enforcement and his knowledge of the outdoors, Brett believes that he’s the castaway to beat. He currently lives in Arlington with Jean, his wife of nine years, and their three-year-old daughter Isabella.

New experiences have never frightened Vanessa, who refers to herself as a “thrill-seeker.” She loves roller coasters, horror movies, and the occasional wild night out with her girlfriends–but her biggest adventure has been leaving her parents, sister, family and friends behind in her native New Jersey when she relocated to St. Louis. She currently works with the human resources department of a major pharmaceutical company as an employment recruiter. Despite her adventurous spirit, she has never been camping, but she believes her competitiveness, athleticism, and spirited personality will help her past her shortcomings.

You’ll never hear Marina say she’s “not like other girls,” even if most of her friends and family would tell you that’s true. While other girls were playing with Barbies, she was playing with her contractor father’s power tools. Marina considers herself to be creative and industrious. “I never back down from a challenge. If someone says ‘you can’t do it,’ that makes me want to prove them wrong,” she says. She sees her success as a mechanic in a male-dominated field as proof of her work ethic and her drive. Handy with tools and construction, Marina is most excited to try her hand at building a shelter and competing in challenges.

Growing up in the suburbs of Minneapolis, Brock sometimes found it hard to fit in as a mixed-race child in a predominately white neighborhood (his father is black and his mother is white), but he’d ultimately come to find his unique looks more of a blessing than a curse. Despite the sometimes less than welcoming attitudes of others, Brock never struggled with his confidence, especially when he was among the first of the boys in his school to shoot up in height. Standing at 6’3″, he eventually became a standout on his high school basketball team. Ultimately, Brock chose to leave athletics behind after being approached by a modeling agent via social media. After high school, he moved to New York City, where he now works as a bartender to fill in gaps between modelling jobs.

There you have it! Our first four of sixteen. Do any of these four stand out as castaways who could potentially play winning games? Or are some of them doomed to be cut early on? We’ll find out as we meet the rest of their competitors over the next three days. Check by tomorrow to meet four more of our Survivor: India castaways!